Prince of Broadway

Colour, HD CAM
USA, 2008, 100 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Lucky, an illegal immigrant from Ghana who makes his living selling knockoff goods, proves that crime doesn’t pay – at least not very well. To top it off, his ex-girlfriend literally unloads a little boy on him, claiming that the kid is his son! Can Lucky be the king of Broadway with little Prince in tow? The movie’s strengths reside in its spontaneity (including partially improvised dialogue) and the fact that the director doesn’t milk the melodrama. Although the characters live in a familiar world which can bring unpleasant surprises, they move with self-confidence. The movie pulses to the rhythm of a life which may not be easy, but which affords not one iota of apathetic boredom. The law of the streets is abused by neither the characters nor the filmmakers, and the director steers clear of high drama, fueling the movie’s power with common though singular characters.

About the director

Sean Baker (b. 1971, Summit, New Jersey) graduated from NYU film school and worked on the cult TV show "Greg the Bunny,” starring popular comic Seth Green. But his main interest lies in creating social-realist film. His debut, Four Letter Words (2000), focuses on adolescent males, while his second feature, Take Out (2004), codirected by Shih-Ching Tsou, presents the dramatic story of an illegal Chinese immigrant in New York City. Baker’s latest movie, Prince of Broadway, was awarded at a number of festivals and represented American cinema at Locarno.